National Syndromic Surveillance Program (AKA BioSense) Tools for West Virginia syndromic surveillance Michael A. Coletta, MPH BioSense Program Manager West Virginia Public Health Symposium 11/20/2014 Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services Division of Health Informatics and Surveillance
What is Syndromic Surveillance? Tool used by federal, state, and local governmental public health agencies to improve the detection and control of outbreaks and characterize other hazardous events or conditions of public health concern in near real-time Distinguished from other public health surveillance by the methods employed Automated collection of health-related data from clinical information systems and other data sources originally captured for different purposes - monitored as potential indicators Purpose to detect and/or characterize unusual activity for further public health actions to include Further targeted surveillance Public messaging Public health investigation
What is Syndromic Surveillance? Traditional public health surveillance methods currently are not as timely or useful in the early stages of an event of public health significance Health data are sorted by computer programs into syndromes or into condition specific targeted queries. Alerts can be triggered when the number of reports for a particular syndrome statistically exceed what is expected in the population When condition specific targeted queries exceed a set threshold as low as one case meeting the definition. Syndromic surveillance is best used in conjunction with all public health surveillance tools. This integration of available information from different surveillance sensors will draw the most complete and actionable picture for public health authorities to make decisions and take action.
History of Syndromic Surveillance Has occurred since PH surveillance has been around ILI since middle 1900s Toxic Shock Syndrome 1980s AIDS 1980s Reye Syndrome late 1980s Late 90 s testing and thinking about: Bioterrorism Electronic reporting Anthrax attacks Public Health staffing of EDs Received what was available electronically at the time (ADT) Refining of syndromic Learning need more specific probes and not all about statistical algorithms (IOM hearing examples) Finding Successes Future New context of EHR Big Data Analytics
A Quick Closer Look Cook County, IL ILI, acute GI, other infectious diseases such as sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, and meningitis follow up of reportable conditions that have not been reported such as meningitis, asthma, other respiratory conditions including cough characterize alcohol abuse in the community overdoses, including heroin, poisonings characterize assaults and violence in the community such as gunshot wounds Special Event Surveillance such as NATO 2012 injuries such as falls and fractures Carbon Monoxide Climate Change such as Heat Illness from May September and Cold Related Illness November February
Boston, MA A Quick Closer Look Mental health syndromes were used after the Marathon bombing to assess the effect of mental health efforts. Information was shared with the Medical Intelligence Center (MIC) for situation reports which was then shared with other agencies. Florida Identified an outbreak of Ciguatera from one case presenting in the ED through reportable condition queries resulting in an official fish recall and investigation.
CDC Surveillance Strategy (Published Feb 2014) A Strategy for improving the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions activities in public health surveillance Goals of the Surveillance Strategy 1. Enhance the accountability, resource use, workforce and innovation for surveillance at CDC and in support of STLT agencies. 2. Accelerate the utilization of emerging tools and approaches to improve the availability, quality, and timeliness of surveillance data. 3. Through cross-cutting agency initiatives, improve surveillance by addressing data availability, system usability, redundancies, and incorporation of new information technologies in major systems or activities.
Four Major Initiatives of the CDC Surveillance Strategy 1. National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) Modernization Initiative 2. BioSense Enhancement Initiative 3. Accelerate Electronic Laboratory Reporting 4. Accelerate Electronic Mortality Reporting
BioSense The BioSense Program, run by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), facilitates recognition and tracking of health problems as they evolve, and provides public health officials with the data, information and tools they need to better prepare for and respond, in a coordinated way, to threats to the health of Americans. Mandated in the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 Cloud based information system that enables local, state, and national public health entities to collect, share, and analyze emergency department data along with other public health related data sources. Enables local jurisdictions to respond quickly to local threats Practitioners can detect and characterize disease outbreaks Aggregated analyses of disease patterns can be shared across jurisdictions when needed. BioSense can be a useful tool for local public health to meet their Meaningful Use requirements
The issues: BioSense Enhancement Initiative The quality and representativeness of the data being collected through the BioSense application need to be improved, the application and data platform need further development, and the Community of Practice needs to increase collaboration and data sharing. Evolution of the BioSense program: Continue to support local and state health departments to build their capacity for meaningful use of syndromic surveillance. CDC will renew its focus on quality and representativeness of the data. CDC will seek to strengthen collaboration and data sharing across local, state, and national public health programs as part of the: National Syndromic Surveillance Program.
National Syndromic Surveillance Program Vision A collaboration among local, state, and national public health programs that supports timely exchange of syndromic data and information for nation-wide and regional situational awareness and enhanced response to hazardous events and disease outbreaks. Some Major Dimensions of the NSSP 1. Syndromic Surveillance Platform (SyS-Platform) Cloud based collaborative workspace where syndromic surveillance tools exist 2. Governance Leadership group representing BioSense users Advise CDC on platform enhancements 3. National Syndromic Surveillance Community of Practice (NSSCoP) Supplement and support a national community focused on the science of syndromic surveillance 4. Future Development Emerging technology, EHRs, Meaningful Use, etc.
Current Status (+) Approx 44 states and 60% of local health depts perform Syndromic Surveillance (SyS) Approx 20 states use BioSense app; others use OTS or homegrown systems Approx 75% of jurisdictions managing Syndromic Surveillance data feeds send data to the BioSense platform Uses of Syndromic Surveillance Infectious disease outbreaks/pandemics (Influenza, H1N1, Norovirus) Identification of reportable conditions not found in other systems Mass gatherings (Super Bowl, Conventions, Boston Marathon) Natural and man-made disasters (Hurricanes, Fires, Deep Water Horizon) Injury (Falls, Bicycle Related Injuries, Drowning, Suicide ideation/attempt, drug overdose) Chronic conditions (Asthma) Health care utilization (Oral Health, Medication Re-fills, Vaccine monitoring)
Current Status (-) CDC programs are not using BioSense 2 as a national surveillance source or for situational awareness State and local jurisdictions have limited use of BioSense 2 data and there is minimal data sharing Data processing is not transparent and has many defects Data quality and representativeness are unknown Onboarding is challenging and slow Lack of documentation, training, and TA for new users Lack of tools and services for analyzing and using the data Legal barriers and distrust limits data sharing especially with CDC
Recommendations for Improvement Provided by the BioSense Governance Group and a CDC internal investment review (2013-2014): Develop a consistent mission and vision with specific objectives and timelines for implementation; Improve the representativeness, timeliness, quality, sharing, and usefulness of the syndromic surveillance data; Improve the platform, analytic applications and services; Improve governance, change control and management practices
Key components of the Initiative Improving data access, quality, representativeness and timeliness Enhancing the capabilities and technology supporting syndromic surveillance data collection, processing, and provisioning Strengthening the NSSCoP to promote data sharing and further the science and practice of syndromic surveillance. Stakeholders / Collaborators State and local health departments (funded and unfunded) Clinical entities Veterans Affairs Department of Defense ASTHO (supports cloud hosting and Governance Group) NACCHO (TA for onboarding and informatics) CSTE (ICD 9 to 10) Public Health Informatics Institute (contracts) International Society for Disease Surveillance (community of practice) CDC programs (flu, EOC, injury, million hearts, etc)
Data Quality Activities Evaluate and document data flow and update business rules Establish representativeness (% ED visits) Establish performance metrics for CDC and jurisdictions (FOA) Promote strategic onboarding of hospitals Update Syndromic Surveillance Messaging Guide; include ambulatory care standards (2015 ONC MU interim rule) (Sept) Build CDC/DHIS analytic capacity; develop analytic QA plan; establish routine data analyses and reports Provide TA to jurisdictions to improve data quality from hospitals to health dept. (NACCHO and others involved) Ongoing Pilot Studies 1. Compare SyS data with ILI-Net data to determine potential for SyS as an additional flu data source for CDC Influenza division 2. Work with CDC Injury program on an opioid overdose study using the SyS data 3. Evaluation of LabCorp data for potential use by CDC s flu and Hepatitis programs 4. Evaluation of prescription drug data from Relay Health
Development of Platform (SyS-P) and BioSense Application Award new development contract (Sept 15 th ); transition to a platformoriented delivery model Conduct Enterprise Architecture assessment of the SyS-P Establish a change management process that formalizes jurisdictions input Identify and prioritize data flow fixes for the new contractor Test and deploy analytic tools on the platform for data management, analysis, and visualization (e.g., ESSENCE, SAS) Create dashboards for data quality & data sharing permissions Create a knowledge repository for programs, templates, methods, and case definitions Management of the AWS cloud environment and services
Operations, Management and Support of NSSCoP Expand the NSSCoP and refine the governance structure Issue 2015 FOA for state/local health departments Test models for data sharing among jurisdictions (MERS, EV D68, Ebola, etc.) Develop communication plan Renew DUAs with DoD and VA Oversee partner Cooperative Agreements Support Data Sharing Workshops and promote data sharing and SyS best practices in collaborations with partners (CoAgs)
BioSense Governance Group Represent the NSSCoP CDC, partner organizations, and funded and unfunded jurisdictions Inform and provide input on the enhancements and functionality of the SyS-P and BioSense application Provide a forum to promote the science of syndromic surveillance and share use cases Convene workgroups to address issues such as data sharing, and data quality
Timeline 1-2 years 2-3 years 3-5 years Improve: Data flow Data quality Platform function Shared applic s (SAS, ESSENCE) Continue: Onboarding Operations Enhance: Data Sources Functionality Architecture Shared services (potentially across platforms) Continue: Onboarding Operations Develop: Advanced analytics, data linkage, EHR data use cases, etc. More integrated & complete surveillance picture Continue: Onboarding Operations
Current Examples Using BioSense and NSSCoP MERS Chikungunya Ebola EV-D68
MERS 2 cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) arrived in the US May 2014 BioSense jurisdictions can directly query raw data in their locker However CDC cannot access these data Critical functions like ad-hoc syndrome definitions not yet capable on the BioSense Platform Developed a plan to: Rapidly generate query definitions regardless of locally preferred syndromic surveillance tool Generate aggregate reports to support the Public Health response to MERS
MERS Methods CDC DHIS worked Collaboratively with members of the community to develop a common set of 5 MERS-like query definitions 5 definitions provided a range of sensitivity and specificity using chief complaint and ICD codes. o Some definitions were very restrictive looking for multiple criteria in a chief complaint, while others were very loose o Some focused on mention of travel AND key words, others on travel only, and others on ICD codes only All definitions were operationalized in SQL, R-Script, SAS, and ESSENCE query languages Deployment guidance was provided and a webinar was conducted to elicit participation Aggregate weekly reporting came to CDC, was collated, and sent to the CDC Emergency Operations Center (EOC)
MERS Conclusions Despite limitations, surveillance reports of MERS-Like visits enhanced the MERS national surveillance picture CDC and partner jurisdictions quickly developed a novel, standardized set of definitions that were widely shared Though limited by the use of differing systems, the community succeeded in providing CDC MERS-like surveillance data This activity can and should be used to drive future requirements for the National Syndromic Surveillance Platform Many viewed as a model to expand offering hope to providing rapid and meaningful syndromic data at a national level
EBOLA In August, definitions were conceptualized and then operationalized in R-Script In September the scripts were tested by 5 states When the first case occurred in Dallas, the scripts were adjusted to catch that case Posted on the ISDS forum Points to a need for more formal processes
EV-D68 Slightly different more focused on disease symptoms Possible to use the current syndrome categories (specifically Dyspnea) Some issues with system created limitations
EV-D68
The Problems: Recap Quality and representativeness of data Application and platform development Community of Practice increase collaboration and data sharing National Syndromic Surveillance Program - NSSP (AKA BioSense): Continue to support local and state health departments capacity for meaningful use of syndromic surveillance data Focus on quality and representativeness of the data Strengthen collaboration and data sharing across local, state, and national public health programs
Michael A. Coletta, MPH BioSense Program Manager CDC/CSELS/DHIS mcoletta@cdc.gov Questions? For more information please contact Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333 Telephone: 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636)/TTY: 1-888-232-6348 Visit: http://www.cdc.gov Contact CDC at: 1-800-CDC-INFO or http://www.cdc.gov/info The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services Division of Health Informatics and Surveillance